Official CES HD/BD News & Discussion Thread
01-09-07 | 06:13 PM
#426
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So I wonder if people over at the AVSForums are finally going to ignore that tsd2005 guy. It seems that 99.9% of his "insider" information is complete bullshit.
01-09-07 | 06:15 PM
#427
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From: AUSTIN - Land of Mexican Coke
Originally Posted by Skoobooz
And the AVS forums are somewhat useless. Whenever something is announced, there are five different threads for the same information, and that's to say nothing about the majority of those who post there....
Anyway, good positive post Skoobooz. Let's just all take a deep breath. I think I might even go buy a couple of HD DVDs on Amazon I wasn't planning to buy like The Hulk or The Mummy just to show a little support.
01-09-07 | 06:51 PM
#428
DVD Talk Legend
Originally Posted by MBoyd
I gotta agree with that. I always thought AVS was bastion of industry professionals. Since I started reading on a regular basis in the last couple of months I have seen more anti-letterboxing threads than I have seen since 1999 or 2000 on usenet's alt.dvd.
They'll probably get their fullscreen versions eventually. If one or both of these formats takes off and goes mainstream, it will probably happen. That's why I think it may be good if these stay a niche market, at least for a while. Let's just hope they continue to make OAR versions of every title available. Anyway, back to the CES talk...
01-09-07 | 06:51 PM
#429
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From: Guelph, Ontario
Go for HULK, it looks awesome. I've come to realize I'm just going to take a chill pill and relax... Universal is going to have lots of titles this year, when they're ready to tell us about them, they will. As far as CES, Blu-ray really took that round, but now the HD camp knows exactly what they're up against for the year, so they can plan accordingly... I'm just going to enjoy the discs I have now and the upcoming ones I know about (Mummy Returns, The Departed, Babel etc.).
... and all your thoughts on AVS are right on the money...don't know why I even bother going there...lots of misinformation, every other post is asking about the Xbox addon vs. a standalone, widescreen confusion, proclamations of either side winning the war and my recent favourite, people bragging about getting releases early without giving any sort of review on PQ/AQ for the discs...those are pure gold.
... and all your thoughts on AVS are right on the money...don't know why I even bother going there...lots of misinformation, every other post is asking about the Xbox addon vs. a standalone, widescreen confusion, proclamations of either side winning the war and my recent favourite, people bragging about getting releases early without giving any sort of review on PQ/AQ for the discs...those are pure gold.
01-09-07 | 06:54 PM
#430
DVD Talk Gold Edition
Here's a snippet from the head of Fox Studios on BD sales - "I'm selling 70,000 discs a week. Sales are doubling every week. ... Average PS3 owners buy 6 discs," He goes on to predict that BD sales will be 3 to 4 times larger than HD DVD sales by the end of the fist quarter.
01-09-07 | 07:05 PM
#431
DVD Talk Hero
Originally Posted by Burnt Thru
Here's a snippet from the head of Fox Studios on BD sales - "I'm selling 70,000 discs a week. Sales are doubling every week. ... Average PS3 owners buy 6 discs," He goes on to predict that BD sales will be 3 to 4 times larger than HD DVD sales by the end of the fist quarter.
01-09-07 | 07:06 PM
#432
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Originally Posted by Skoobooz
I completely admit that I'm disappointed by the lack of a strong, announced, surprising lineup from the HD DVD camp at CES (especially from Universal, given that they are the sole HD DVD-only major studio), partially because my expectations were so high (Lionsgate and Disney will convert! Studios will announce every one of their biggest titles ever!). And while I still feel that it wouldn't have hurt HD DVD to have a big list in their corner, now that things have settled somewhat, I will agree that what actually happens in 2007 is more important than what is promised for 2007.
Granted, BD may bring out something like Independence Day...but it might be bare bones with a mediocre picture, while HD DVD will likely continue its consistency. Of course, since I'm a dual-format supporter now, I don't want things like Independence Day to look bad or be featureless, but it's still a concern for Blu-Ray...not so much for HD DVD.
And the AVS forums are somewhat useless. Whenever something is announced, there are five different threads for the same information, and that's to say nothing about the majority of those who post there....
Granted, BD may bring out something like Independence Day...but it might be bare bones with a mediocre picture, while HD DVD will likely continue its consistency. Of course, since I'm a dual-format supporter now, I don't want things like Independence Day to look bad or be featureless, but it's still a concern for Blu-Ray...not so much for HD DVD.
And the AVS forums are somewhat useless. Whenever something is announced, there are five different threads for the same information, and that's to say nothing about the majority of those who post there....
01-09-07 | 07:13 PM
#433
DVD Talk Legend
Originally Posted by DVD Josh
This is the kind of shit that makes me pull for HD-DVD. What the holy fuck is this asshole talking about? This is downright fraudulent.
01-09-07 | 07:14 PM
#434
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From: Culver City, CA
Originally Posted by Hammer99
ID4 may indeed turn out to be be bare-bones, but I very highly doubt the PQ will be bad, especially coming from Fox. BD has their act together now as far as PQ goes IMO, all the recently-released exclusive titles I've gotten look great.
My biggest problem with Blu-Ray is that they act as though 25 gigs is a tiny amount, only good for short movies with few special features, if any, and that 50 gigs are necessary for movies over two hours with special features. Using more efficient codecs, they could have easily put Speed and at least the majority of its special features on that BD-25. It shouldn't be an either/or situation.
Of course, I still bought Speed and it did look and sound really great....
01-09-07 | 07:17 PM
#435
DVD Talk Gold Edition
Originally Posted by DVD Josh
This is the kind of shit that makes me pull for HD-DVD. What the holy fuck is this asshole talking about? This is downright fraudulent.
01-09-07 | 07:19 PM
#436
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And on the subject of codecs, can someone elaborate as to why AVC/MPEG-4 is such a great codec? Everyone is saying that it's great news for Sony to be using it for Casino Royale and Open Season because it allows for smaller file sizes and is, in fact, a more efficient codec, but my question is: how does it compare to VC-1? Is AVC capable of compressing a movie to the same small size as VC-1? I know it can look great (Speed), but how does it compare?
01-09-07 | 07:21 PM
#437
DVD Talk Hero
Originally Posted by Burnt Thru
I'm sorry, was it me or the head of Fox who you just called an asshole? BTW please explain why the head of the Fox Studio wouldn't know his own sales figures and have a pretty good idea about the other studios as well.
Why wouldn't he? Because BD forum members have been manipulating sales figures and specs since Day One. In addition, his comments are ludicrous to even the lay viewer of this thread.
01-09-07 | 07:26 PM
#438
DVD Talk Gold Edition
Originally Posted by DVD Josh
WTF man? I've been on this forum for 8 eight years and in this thread since page one. What on earth would make you think that I would call a fellow forum member an asshole for no reason?
Why wouldn't he? Because BD forum members have been manipulating sales figures and specs since Day One. In addition, his comments are ludicrous to even the lay viewer of this thread.
Why wouldn't he? Because BD forum members have been manipulating sales figures and specs since Day One. In addition, his comments are ludicrous to even the lay viewer of this thread.
He has stated sales figures. If he's lying he's culpable to his shareholders, so that seems unlikely. I'm more inclined to believe the head of one of the major studios about his own sales figures than most anyone else.
01-09-07 | 07:30 PM
#439
DVD Talk Hero
Originally Posted by Burnt Thru
So you wouldn't be saying he was an asshole if he was posting in this thread?
He has stated sales figures. If he's lying he's culpable to his shareholders, so that seems unlikely. I'm more inclined to believe the head of one of the major studios about his own sales figures than most anyone else.
He has stated sales figures. If he's lying he's culpable to his shareholders, so that seems unlikely. I'm more inclined to believe the head of one of the major studios about his own sales figures than most anyone else.
You of course are free to believe who you want. But I would bet you that if you polled the knowledgeable people of this forum about what he "claims" (and statements without figures are just that, claims), you would find that my position is in the solid majority.
01-09-07 | 07:33 PM
#441
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From: Greenville, South Cackalack
Originally Posted by Burnt Thru
Does DVDTalk have any studio insiders posting here in an official capacity?
The years on this graph are mislabeled, but this is what Fox is claiming will happen by April 2007:
http://img144.imagevenue.com/img.php..._122_455lo.jpg
I have zero problem saying that Fox is out of their minds if they think that's realistic.
01-09-07 | 07:39 PM
#442
Its obvious to me that Fox has decided to market Blu-Ray instead of Sony. I prefer Sony qoutes though. When an exec working for Sony says something to the public we have some grade A quotable material that Fox can't even think up.
As for Skoobooz question about VC-1/AVC they seem to be comparable in quality with small differences IMO. VC-1 seems to be hitting a little lower with bitrates but both are suitable for 25/30gbs discs. From what I have read AVC may require a little more processing power as well. Debatable however to the studios using each.
MPEG-2 can be great at higher bitrates, but with PCM audio on 25gb discs you can start running into problems as we have seen with many early releases. It's probably a question of what material is being encoded I guess.
As for Skoobooz question about VC-1/AVC they seem to be comparable in quality with small differences IMO. VC-1 seems to be hitting a little lower with bitrates but both are suitable for 25/30gbs discs. From what I have read AVC may require a little more processing power as well. Debatable however to the studios using each.
MPEG-2 can be great at higher bitrates, but with PCM audio on 25gb discs you can start running into problems as we have seen with many early releases. It's probably a question of what material is being encoded I guess.
01-09-07 | 07:43 PM
#443
DVD Talk Gold Edition
Not believing something like that I can understand, though statements of actual sales figures will be a matter of public record for any who have the money to pay for them. Why would he lie and risk losing his job? Calling him an asshole just struck me as totally out of whack with what's happening here: HighDef optical delivery. Why is it so personal for some people?
BTW I think HTF have chats with reps from various studios, and of course R Harris's contributions.
BTW I think HTF have chats with reps from various studios, and of course R Harris's contributions.
01-09-07 | 08:03 PM
#444
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As for space issues -- "Superman Returns". HD-DVD and BD have the exact same special features (except, what? a couple of Easter Eggs on the BD?) and the exact same video file, but the 50GB Blu-Ray disc had to go without a Dolby TrueHD track? And the HD-DVD is a combo with the movie in SD on the other side, so the kids can watch it on their portable disc player while the family drives to see the grandparents for Christmas? Holy freaking heck.
And those sales figures from Fox. Yeesh. Visit the sites that are keeping track of sales figures for crying out loud. Like some studio suit is actually giving us accurate numbers! He's not speaking directly to his stockholders, so no, he doesn't have the same responsibility that he would if he were. He's a salesman -- pure and simple. Smug as all get out, too.
Honestly, you Blu-Ray folks are getting the shaft!!!!
And those sales figures from Fox. Yeesh. Visit the sites that are keeping track of sales figures for crying out loud. Like some studio suit is actually giving us accurate numbers! He's not speaking directly to his stockholders, so no, he doesn't have the same responsibility that he would if he were. He's a salesman -- pure and simple. Smug as all get out, too.
Honestly, you Blu-Ray folks are getting the shaft!!!!
01-09-07 | 08:04 PM
#445
DVD Talk Legend
Originally Posted by Burnt Thru
Not believing something like that I can understand, though statements of actual sales figures will be a matter of public record for any who have the money to pay for them. Why would he lie and risk losing his job?
01-09-07 | 08:05 PM
#446
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From: Greenville, South Cackalack
Originally Posted by Burnt Thru
BTW I think HTF have chats with reps from various studios, and of course R Harris's contributions.
01-09-07 | 08:08 PM
#447
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From: Greenville, South Cackalack
Originally Posted by Josh Z
Who is this person?
01-09-07 | 08:09 PM
#448
Banned by request
Originally Posted by Skoobooz
And on the subject of codecs, can someone elaborate as to why AVC/MPEG-4 is such a great codec? Everyone is saying that it's great news for Sony to be using it for Casino Royale and Open Season because it allows for smaller file sizes and is, in fact, a more efficient codec, but my question is: how does it compare to VC-1? Is AVC capable of compressing a movie to the same small size as VC-1? I know it can look great (Speed), but how does it compare?
And by the way, I don't think I've ever had to eat my words so fast. Just last night I was explaining why I didn't want a PS3. Then, today, I got offered one at a great price and said to hell with it. As someone else here said, with all the different companies coming out with BD players that have wildly different specs, the PS3 is likely to be the best supported BD player out there for quite a while. Plus I'd be able to review PS3 games with it, so I just went for it. I'm watching The Descent right now and it looks pretty good and sounds great.
01-09-07 | 08:09 PM
#449
DVD Talk Legend
Im pretty much done with all of this here soon...Both of these orgs are pissing me off. Im going to go live in the mountains with no tv, computer, anything and just stare at the sky 
01-09-07 | 08:33 PM
#450
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Originally Posted by Suprmallet
AFAIK, AVC cannot get down to the kind of file sizes VC-1 can, but it's still a hell of a lot smaller and more efficient than MPEG-2. So if Casino Royale is in AVC on a BD-50, then we should have stellar sound and picture. Strike that, we better have fucking stellar sound and picture.
And by the way, I don't think I've ever had to eat my words so fast. Just last night I was explaining why I didn't want a PS3. Then, today, I got offered one at a great price and said to hell with it. As someone else here said, with all the different companies coming out with BD players that have wildly different specs, the PS3 is likely to be the best supported BD player out there for quite a while. Plus I'd be able to review PS3 games with it, so I just went for it. I'm watching The Descent right now and it looks pretty good and sounds great.
And by the way, I don't think I've ever had to eat my words so fast. Just last night I was explaining why I didn't want a PS3. Then, today, I got offered one at a great price and said to hell with it. As someone else here said, with all the different companies coming out with BD players that have wildly different specs, the PS3 is likely to be the best supported BD player out there for quite a while. Plus I'd be able to review PS3 games with it, so I just went for it. I'm watching The Descent right now and it looks pretty good and sounds great.
